Well, I had gotten back and despite my Christmas was ruined, I still felt relieved to be back in Dubai. I got through to customs and through passport control. The lines were pretty short, and I talked to the immigration officer and said to him, "I am so happy to be home!"
He looked at me strangely and said, "Home? But you are from America!"
I said, "Yeah, you are right. But this place is like my home. I feel more at peace and more welcomed here than I do in America. You have no idea what I have been through the past 15 days. The past 15 days which were supposed to be love-filled and happy. But they weren't."
He just said, "Uhuh! Okay, you are a teacher! That explains a lot." Poor guy, he is just doing his job. He then said, "Okay, go back home, Yallah!" I walked as if I owned the airport. This felt like home.
I called the friend who was supposed to pick me up and he had decided that he would go out with his friends and left me stranded at 7:30 pm on New Year's Eve. That was sort of a "buzz kill" but I called dear old Osama and he delightfully came to pick me up from the airport. I could have taken a taxi home, the issue was that Osama had my key, as he was being an old pal, and was looking over my apartment while I was gone for two weeks to make sure it remained safe.
So, he had to drive through all the Burj Khalifa firework display traffic, taking him 4 hours to reach me, normally it would have taken him about 30 minutes. But he was VIP and was able to get through the road barriers to retrieve me. He dropped me off at my apartment at 11:45 pm. I went upstairs and from my balcony, I could see the middle half of the Burj Khalifa light up the sky! Yes, I spent New Years 2014 alone. But I was home, and I was happy to be home.
He looked at me strangely and said, "Home? But you are from America!"
I said, "Yeah, you are right. But this place is like my home. I feel more at peace and more welcomed here than I do in America. You have no idea what I have been through the past 15 days. The past 15 days which were supposed to be love-filled and happy. But they weren't."
He just said, "Uhuh! Okay, you are a teacher! That explains a lot." Poor guy, he is just doing his job. He then said, "Okay, go back home, Yallah!" I walked as if I owned the airport. This felt like home.
I called the friend who was supposed to pick me up and he had decided that he would go out with his friends and left me stranded at 7:30 pm on New Year's Eve. That was sort of a "buzz kill" but I called dear old Osama and he delightfully came to pick me up from the airport. I could have taken a taxi home, the issue was that Osama had my key, as he was being an old pal, and was looking over my apartment while I was gone for two weeks to make sure it remained safe.
So, he had to drive through all the Burj Khalifa firework display traffic, taking him 4 hours to reach me, normally it would have taken him about 30 minutes. But he was VIP and was able to get through the road barriers to retrieve me. He dropped me off at my apartment at 11:45 pm. I went upstairs and from my balcony, I could see the middle half of the Burj Khalifa light up the sky! Yes, I spent New Years 2014 alone. But I was home, and I was happy to be home.
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